Mario Balotelli finally deserves top billing at Manchester City

Roberto Mancini should put faith in his own judgment and make Mario Balotelli his No1 striker at Manchester City this season

Mario Balotelli started in the games that mattered at Euro 2012 and Italy then slotted their other attacking talents around him, a tactic Manchester City could learn from in the coming season. Photograph: Patrik Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images

Thanks in part to the London 2012 Olympics, the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine is already beginning to feel like a distant memory, though typically jolly pictures of an optimistically dressed Mario Balotelli arriving back in rainy Manchester for the new season were a reminder that some Premier League players enhanced their reputations in the summer tournament.

Following his performances for Italy, particularly in the jaw-dropping semi-final win over Germany, Balotelli should go straight to the head of the queue of Manchester City strikers, although that is quite a long queue and they still might bring in Robin van Persie or Gonzalo Higuaín. Roberto Mancini is continuing to talk about Balotelli needing to mature and improve his behaviour, though surely this most protracted of adolescences is now over. Balotelli is not an enfant terrible any more, even if he may still need adult supervision on bonfire night. He has shown he can be one of the most lethally effective strikers around, and in the coming season City really ought to cash in on Mancini's vision and foresight in bringing him to the club at such a tender age.

The way to do that is to start with him in most of the games that matter, as Italy finally learnt to do in Euro 2012, and find a way of slotting all the other attacking talents at the champions around him. Mancini is talking of Balotelli's ability to operate as a wide player, which does not sound promising. Who else have City got to provide the thrust through the middle? Carlos Tevez? Edin Dzeko? Balotelli deserves a chance as the main man, the attacking spearhead, because he has upped his game more dramatically than either of those two forwards and he still has his best years ahead of him.

From the sound of things Mancini's preference might be to put Sergio Agüero at the point of the attack, and have Balotelli supporting from a slightly deeper and wider position. That is fair enough, even if it might work equally well the other way around; but what Balotelli does not need at this stage is a Van Persie or Higuaín to come in at great expense and relegate him to the sidelines. We know by now City can buy virtually any top player. The more important question at the moment, apart from whether they can actually sell any of their surplus top players, is how well they can judge the talent already at the club.

Here is Mancini's chance to grab a little bit of Arsène Wenger's kudos for himself, instead of just using City's funds to bid for Arsenal's finished products. Having spotted Balotelli's potential in Italy, brought him to England as a youngster and put a brave face on all the subsequent tantrums and tribulations, the manager now ought to sit back and enjoy the pay-off. If Balotelli is as sharp and focused as he was in the Euros, City's immediate need for a big-name striker does not seem obvious, and if Mancini gets this call wrong all that previous good work could go to waste.

What Wenger has done so consistently over the years is give youth its chance, not place unnecessary obstacles in its way. Arsenal have never had City's money, of course, so perhaps the temptation to go out and buy big was never as great, though the principle Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have established is one most other managers would aspire to. Initially young players put their trust in the club and its coaches, and then the point arrives where the club puts its trust in them. If this happens, the result is happiness for the foreseeable future. If it doesn't happen, trust begins to break down on both sides.

Balotelli is No1 then on the list of Premier League players who can be expected to kick on this season on the back of impressive performances at Euro 2012. No2 is Fernando Torres, who was never such a wow for Spain as Balotelli was for Italy but still ended up with a winner's medal and the golden boot to sit alongside his Champions League and FA Cup successes last season with Chelsea.

We all know what Torres can do, which is precisely why his relatively meagre goal return at Chelsea has been judged so harshly, but with Didier Drogba out of the picture at last this really needs to be the season for the Spain striker to rediscover the confidence and poise that made him stand out at Atlético Madrid and Liverpool. The extent to which Drogba's dominance at Chelsea cramped Torres's style is debatable, though with word coming down from on high that the £50m purchase is to take over as the leader of the attack, everything seems to be in place for a revival. If that puts a certain amount of pressure on Torres, it is the sort of pressure he welcomes. While his trophy cabinet might suggest he has little left to prove, Torres would simply like to return this season to the role that made him famous, as go-to man for important goals.

Talking of go-to men, Andy Carroll, who might be going to West Ham or Newcastle United, is third on the list. An enormous joke for most of last season, and part of the reason why Kenny Dalglish spent so long on the defensive, Carroll began to show his worth right at the end of Liverpool's campaign before scoring one of the outstanding goals of Euro 2012 for England against Sweden. All right, it was only the one goal. His overall performances were not that great and England did not do particularly well; but as confidence boosters go Carroll's stunning header was up there with the best.

How his confidence will be affected by Liverpool's willingness to release him remains to be seen, but a move to Newcastle or West Ham would put him back among friends rather than sceptical critics, and he could still show that he can be highly effective playing for the right team. There will always be people saying the game has moved on from wingers knocking in crosses for the big fella up front, though as both Carroll and Grant Holt managed to prove intermittently last season, that really depends on how well the big fella rises to the occasion.

Finally, in recognition of the fact that not all of the Premier League was represented at Euro 2012, here are three other players who will be expected to make a big impact this season. Tom Cleverley missed out on the Euros largely through missing most of Manchester United's season with injury. Now he is fit again and looking good for Team GB in the Olympics, the time will shortly come to see if he can provide the midfield inspiration to take United back to the top.

Eden Hazard toyed with the idea of joining United or City but went to Chelsea instead, for a not inconsiderable £32m. One of those players about whom a fuss has been made for some time, without a great deal of conclusive evidence as to what the fuss is all about, the Belgian steps into a bigger league this season with a big fee to justify and everything to prove.

Papiss Cissé, on the other hand, has nothing to prove. The Newcastle striker just has an awful lot to live up to after setting a searing pace in the second half of last season. Surely he can't be as good again, can he? Maybe with Cissé and Demba Ba in tandem for a full season Newcastle will be twice as good. Hanging on to their main assets appears to be Newcastle's only worry at the moment, which is not something anyone was saying 12 months ago. But that's football for you. Full of surprises, never stands still – gets under way in just over a fortnight.